Pressure makes diamonds, they say.
On a windy Saturday afternoon in Terre Haute, the boys soccer team was definitely feeling the pressure. With the sectional championship game against Bloomington South tied 0-0, shots were being skied and passes trailed off on the patchy, grassy field. South was playing a bruising game, extinguishing any sparks of creativity concocted by the Trojans.
Yes, sparks can be extinguished. But diamonds can’t.
With 1:36 left on the clock, junior Matheus Gubert slotted the ball behind flailing South defenders, and two seconds later the stands erupted as senior Ely Detty fired the ball past the keeper to win the sectional championship.
Sectional championship aside, Detty has been a critical cog in the Trojans’ ascent this season, contributing 34 goals and 14 assists, which has underscored how valuable he is to any team he plays for.
“The hardest thing to do in soccer is to score, and he is able to score,” head coach Jameson McLaughlin said. “If you put Detty on [Bloomington South], they’re a completely different team because he can score. The fact that he can score goals the way he can score them, it changes the way that we’re able to play, and it changes the way teams defend us. Scoring goals is not really something you can teach a kid. It’s something that comes natural to some people.”
Scoring goals has certainly come natural this season for Detty, with his 34 goals not only doubling his total from last year, but also placing him a goal away from making Center Grove history.
“Honestly going into the season, [breaking the Center Grove goalscoring record] was something I really wanted to do but I didn’t think it was really touchable with our schedule,” Detty said. “I thought 17 goals last year was really good, but I didn’t know I could take it to that next level. I think I should have well exceeded the record by now if I had scored some of the chances I had, but I think it is good that the game that I’m so close to the record is [regionals], because that’ll just give me the extra grit.”
Detty’s performance this season has led to him being the fourth highest scoring Indiana player this year, and second in 3A behind Pike’s Anelson Azard, serving as a source of motivation for Detty throughout this season.
“I don’t know what people will think of this, but I just want to be better than everyone,” Detty said. “Every day I look through Indiana stats and seeing me not at that number one spot kind of ticks me a little bit, which I think is a good and bad thing. I don’t really know when I got that type of mindset, but it just developed, but I just want to keep developing that.”
Although Detty’s nose for the goal has garnered him numerous awards and attention off the field, Detty’s effect on the game transcends more than just the numbers on the scoresheet.
“I think the attention he draws makes us better,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve also been able to play a different formation than usual this year because so many teams will leave numbers back [to cover Detty]. I knew I didn’t have to have four [defenders] in the back because people aren’t going to try and attack us too much, because they know if they leave numbers short in the back and we get the ball to Ely, it’s danger for them.”
Teams believe Detty is dangerous, and rightfully so. Not only does he have 34 goals, but he has also racked up 14 assists, which not only strikes fear into his opponents, but also elevates the level of play from the teammates around him.
“I think it instills in them that if we can get the ball up top, then we have a chance to score,” McLaughlin said. “He’s not the only good player we have [either]. For me, 1-17, we are really good, and he makes us that much better. He makes players that are already really good [so] much better. But I think he definitely gives our guys the train of thought that if we get the ball in a dangerous spot, there is a really high probability of us scoring a goal.”
Detty’s connection with his teammates extends far off the fields of Terre Haute and Bloomington, however, as his demeanor as a leader in the locker room has an impact on how others on the team perform.
“I’m really competitive and I just get really mad sometimes, and it’s really hard to be a leader when I’m really mad at someone or something,” Detty said. “I think I’ve realized over the years that people will listen a lot more to me than they would listen to [the coaches], but I think that has helped me to realize that if I half-[expletive] during practice, then everyone will. I think being a leader and putting effort into practice wears off on everyone.”
Detty’s effect on the team has been noticeable on the scoresheet as well. Junior Matheus Gubert is a player who has benefitted off the presence of Detty, evidenced by his 14 goals and 11 assists, which have forced teams to ease attention off Detty.
“I think they complement each other very well,” McLaughlin said. “Matheus is absolutely willing to play a ball. If he sees Ely [open], he is absolutely willing to play the ball in. [In] the sectional game against [Terre Haute], we had two long balls played in, and Matheus drops the ball off the chest to his foot. He made it look really easy, but that is not an easy thing Matheus did. For him to be able to control a ball and find that little slip, he makes Ely better. Once teams realize how good he is, they can’t just sit on Ely with two or three defenders because [Gubert] will score if they do.”
Despite Gubert’s excellence on the pitch, all the attention will be on Detty, who will aim to not only win the state championship but also to win an accolade that has never been won before by a Center Grove player: Mr. Soccer.
“A goal I’ve always wanted was to get Mr. Soccer,” Detty said. “I think about that every day. That’s such a huge goal for me, and I know if we win [the] state [championship], I know I will get it. And I want a ring. It’s annoying for our football team having rings and us not having any.”
The Trojans will look to continue their run to state in the regional semi-finals against the Columbus North Bull Dogs, who were the team that knocked the Trojans out last year in the same round by a score of 3-1.
The pressure will be on the Trojans to come away with a victory and extend their postseason run.
But as stated before, pressure makes diamonds. And Center Grove’s diamond is just starting to shine.
